Ladder assemblies which are positioned into an opening in a ceiling or a wall are known as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,907,401, 4,281,743, 4,541,508, 5,050,706, and 6,802,392. Ladder assemblies have been formed as foldable stowing stairways, collapsible stairways, and solid retractable stairways. Some of these ladder assemblies have articulated ladders with jointed side rails to enable the ladder to be stowed in an opening that is smaller than the full length of the ladders.
Ladder assemblies which retract, fold, or otherwise are at least partially positioned within an opening in a ceiling or wall often have an initial extraction mechanism by which to move a portion of the ladder assembly from the opening to a position at which a user may touch the ladder. These initial extraction mechanisms include cords, handles, and levers to ease the initial extraction of a ladder, especially in cases where the ladder is positioned in an opening where a user may not easily reach the ladder once the ladder has been retracted into the opening. These ladder assemblies leave the initial extraction mechanism extending downwardly from the ladder assembly so that the user may, at any time, access and use the ladder assembly.